Nutrition

A poor or dull diet has a significant effect on children's behaviour, mood and concentration. In addition, as a girls' school, we are all too aware of the destructive impact of idealised body shapes that are promoted in magazines and on social media sites. Food matters, and we take it seriously.

Our highly experienced Catering Services Manager and a team of 85 staff look after ten kitchens. All kitchens have exceptional food hygiene ratings. The department uses wholesome fresh foods for main meals and the chefs are skilled and trained to a high level. Healthy eating is promoted as part of a normal daily diet and lifestyle.

Freshly made main course dishes are cooked from raw ingredients with the use of frozen foods limited to items such as potato accompaniments, peas and sweetcorn, when they appear on the menu. Fresh vegetables, salads and fruit are available daily, as are regular tea time favourites, such as homemade cakes.  

All houses have the same weekly menu and the Catering Services Manager regularly meets with Housemistresses and the girls to discuss what they would like to see on the menu. One of our popular days is 'house choice', where the girls can choose the House's evening menu with or without the help from their head chef. The house choice menus have frequently included freshly made breaded chicken strips, spicy potato spirals, sweet potato fries, duck wraps, and many pasta and Quinoa dishes now making their mark! House choice is followed by a weekly treat, for example, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream.

The department caters for all diets - vegetarian, Halal, gluten free, lactose free, nut free or any food intolerance diets.  

We encourage feedback and suggestions from the girls and are regularly involved in events with various societies where the chefs work with the girls to help produce food from their home countries. Both College and the houses hold regular events throughout the year including formal dinners, girls' socials, Christmas events, themed meals (Chinese New Year, St David's and St George's Days, Nigerian Independence Day and the Thai Festival of Water), Summer BBQs, as well as picnics for the whole school on Sports Day.